Thoughts on Halloween 2018 and the deletion of all previous sequels

Every single fan of the Halloween franchise had gone crazy when John Carpenter, creator of Michael Myers and director of the 1978 iconic slasher movie, announced the release of the last, ultimate sequel to the story of the masked killer and Laurie Strode.

This feeling of pure enthusiasm lasted until Carpenter himself claimed the upcoming movie won’t take into account any of the sequels – let alone Rob Zombie’s remake. Fans started ranting on the director/producer and on his ‘disrespectful decision’.

With this controversy polarising horror audiences, I thought it could be somewhat useful to share my opinion about the subject matter, all the while providing my readers with some news about the upcoming Halloween.

To get straight to the core of the discussion, I’m a little on the fence towards the whole project: everything is being kept under wraps, which could depend on Carpenter’s desire to make a movie that will be a big surprise for moviegoers. Nevertheless, being so secretive might signify that the production process is a mess.

For example, Danny McBride (yes, you read it right) was set to direct this ultimate instalment in the Halloween franchise at first; afterwards, David Gordon Green took over behind the camera, because, apparently, McBride and Carpenter’s visions weren’t compatible any longer.

The choice of Gordon Green as a director is, per se, controversial. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time that a filmmaker who’s unfamiliar with the horror genre works within those boundaries and rules, but I can’t see what good contributions Gordon Green could bring to this Carpenter’s universe.

Yet, as a producer, the Master of Horror himself won’t have enough freedom to guarantee Halloween 2018 to be good. In fact, Carpenter’s production company will be collaborating with Blumhouse in the making process of the motion picture: although I’m not hostile to Blumhouse on paper (they made some great movies in the recent past), their films are surely hit-or-miss, which brings me on the side of caution.

Probably my main issue with this version of Michael Myers’ adventure, so to speak, is the script: as I mentioned above, nothing about the screenplay has been made public yet; however, it’s been written by three different people – McBride, Gordon Green and Todd Farmer. Are you wondering who Farmer his? Well, he’s responsible for the scripts for Jason X, The Messengers, My Bloody Valentine 3D, some of the worst horror flicks in recent years!

Plus, to my experience, scripts work better when they come from the mind of one person only, since that provides more consistency and homogeneity to the movie.

Is it all bad news, then? I don’t think so: what makes me lean towards a positive outcome is the presence of Jamie Lee-Curtis, who’s set to reprise her leading role as Laurie Strode, the iconic ‘final girl’ from the original.

This might seem a minute fan-service-based decision, instead Laurie Strode and her pivotal role in Halloween (1978) are highly responsible for the good quality of the film, besides Jamie Lee-Curtis being one of the first – and one of the best – scream queens we’ve seen on the silver screen.

Furthermore, Carpenter wants to conclude the arc of the iconic villain he created in the best way possible, which might lead to a few ‘interferences’ in the direction of the movie that can only make it better. For instance, although it’s not confirmed yet, Carpenter might return as a composer for the score or part of it: every single person who likes the franchise would have noticed how much importance the soundtrack has in Halloween.

Finally – and here is where I express my unpopular opinion – I’m quite pleased by Carpenter stating that this film will ignore every other entrance in the franchise, excluding the original 1978 movie.

To begin with, this is a rather ballsy decision, that would likely piss off many fans. However, the motivation behind it appears to be the desire of going back to the Halloween universe routs by erasing all the silly and subpar sequels that have infected the last 40 years of cinema history! Every open-minded, honest person would agree that most of the sequels are, indeed, wrenched and worthless, whereas the original is simply a masterpiece – although not a flawless one.

Ignoring all of them would mean tie together a solid, consistent storyline without wasting time with tiresome, money-grabbing flicks.

With that being said, I also sympathise with the frustration of die-hard Halloween franchise lovers: in this regard, John Carpenter is showing a lack of respect towards these people. Regardless the overall quality of the sequels, it’s a bit unfair to pretend they don’t exist for the sake of a better project. They do exist and ignoring them will only make people more cautious towards the end product.

All in all, I believe Halloween 2018 has only one way to be appreciated by the majority of moviegoers: being a good film. Simple as that. The final result is what counts, therefore all discussions that preceded and will anticipate the release of this movie won’t play any role anymore if the film is good. Which is what I really hope for. Cheers!